Eleven Questions

The idea is that I have to answer eleven questions set by August, and then I set eleven further questions for eleven further people. I was a little worried about who to select in my list of eleven, but fortunately my pet hamster stepped up as an impartial third party and filled in the blanks. Or, to put it another way, I made stuff up for him and he didn’t file a formal objection, so I’m publishing it.

Without further ado, on to August’s questions.

1) What did you eat for breakfast?

See, now this is one of the reasons I like August, she starts with the easy questions. Corn Flakes, a banana, and water.

2) If you could re-live any day of your life, as often as you’d like, which would you choose?

Equally easy. The day my daughter was born and her tiny fingers tried to squeeze mine.

3) Of the books you’ve read recently, which is your favorite?

Lee Child is one of my favorite authors and I recently finished “The Affair.” It tells the story of how Jack Reacher became Jack Reacher, and is one of my favorite books from one of my favorite authors.

4) You have front row seats and back stage passes for any concert. Who’s on stage?

Ha, not problem answering this one; I’d go for seeing The Beatles at the Cavern club. I’m not Beatles obsessed, and I don’t think the Cavern Club had seats, but that era has always fascinated me.

5) Who’s the last person you hugged?

Again, an easy question. I don’t do a lot of hugging. It’s either going to be my daughter or my wife, and at this moment in time it was my wife.

6) What’s your favorite smell?

Hummm, bit more difficult. Probably one of: freshly laundered sheets, cut grass, or rain after a long hot summer.

7) What’s your best bargain-hunting or money-saving tip?

Blimey, August – now things start to get difficult. I don’t like shopping; my feet get tired and the rest of me gets bored. Just as I thought I was going to pass one this one I had an epiphany, my bargain hunting tip is – Don’t let your wife out with your credit card.

Yes, I have the feeling I may “pay” for that comment …

8 ) What’s your funniest or strangest high school memory?

Ok, this is really getting tricky. I don’t remember much about school and what I do, I generally try to forget. But one funny event happened in the Physics lab. We were sat in rows with lab tables in front of us. A friend of mine idly pushed a pair of dividers into the mains electricity socket. There was a bang, a cry of pain, and he fell off his stool and crashed to the floor. Everyone crowded round. The teacher knelt down, concerned, and asked what happened. “He stuck the dividers into the socket and got 240 volts through him,” I said.

The teacher stood up, ignoring my wide-eyed and shaking friend lying on the ground, glowered at me and said “How many times do I have to tell you, volts go across, not through!”

Strangely enough, my friend left school to work in at a vets and I went off to be an engineer, so I guess you could say it was lesson well taught, though my friend was less impressed at the time.

9) How do you feel about your birthday?

They just go by.

10) What do you not miss about being younger?

Ok, this is even more difficult. I suppose, the thing I really don’t miss about being younger, is being able to reach the top shelf 😀 More seriously, I had a somewhat lonely time in my early years. Luckily, it didn’t affect me – I mean, everyone has a twitch in their left eye, don’t they?

11) What about you tends to surprise others?

By the wide eyes, running and screaming, I’d say that taking my axe with me everywhere surprises a lot of people. Well, that and the fact I like romantic comedy films (Educating Rita; Wild Target; Truly, Madly, Deeply; Gregory’s Girl; Four Weddings etc) but left keep that a secret, eh?

So that’s it. Eleven questions answered (using “answered” in the broadest sense). All that remains for me is to post the rules and force other people to go through the same ordeal (with the added fun of making up my own questions).

So, here are the rules,

1) Answer my questions (don’t go acting all surprised over that one).

2) Create eleven new questions to ask eleven new participants (you can call them what you will).

3) Share links to those people in your blog and let them know you’ve tagged them.

1) What sort of vacation do you prefer, activity filled or relaxing on a beach?

2) You have to go back to elementary school – what would you rather do, fifth grade science project or show off your latest dance moves on stage?

3) What do you juggle the most of? (and don’t forget this isn’t an X-rated site!)

4) What country would you most like to visit and why?

5) Have you ever met any of your childhood heroes, and what did you think of them?

6) Can you imagine what you would do with a mega-lottery win?

7) What sort of pet do you have?

8 ) Friday night movie – scary, funny, romance, or … ?

9) Does seeing tomorrow’s weather forecast matter to you?

10) Whose marriage did you last attend, and with who?

11) You’ve just been tapped to star in a new Hollywood action blockbuster, would you do your own stunts?

And if I didn’t mention you in my list of eleven you can blame my hamster, he was somewhat distracted, busy as he was reading up on The Republic before his debating society meeting. But fear not, you can always leave your answers in the comments … how’s that for justice?

What I plan to do is select eleven questions from the prospective list of twenty-two. That gives me off-the-leash freedom to craft snark-riddled thought-provoking and intelligent answers.

Note: I do my best work off the leash.

Please let me know if that meets your exacting standards.

Cheerios! G

Nigel Blackwell
on April 19, 2012 at 7:21 pm

Hummmm, Gloria 2, Mike and Nigel 0 … trying to get all mathematical on us, huh? Then, right as you say lets not count, you get into the eleven from twenty-two thing. Perhaps your questions are going to involve tricky long division sums … Either way, shed that leash and do your worst (cause you know you’re not allowed to tag me back, right?).

Okay, Nigel, you asked for it… 🙂 I don’t know if this will make it into my blog or not, so here are your answers:

1) I like relaxing on the beach, but since I can only do it for 10 minutes before I sunburn, I’m going to choose “activity-filled”.

2) Science project all the way! I’m such a geek.

3) Well, sure, take the fun out of it. So you’re not going to let me tell you about the time I… No? Really? Oh, okay. *Sigh*

4) it’s all about the food for me. Take me anywhere, as long as there’s something good to eat (and my definition of “good” is broader than most people’s).

5) My only childhood hero was the Lone Ranger, so, sadly, no, I never got to meet him.

6) Ooh, yeah! Divvy it up into million-dollar parcels for my friends and family, and use the rest to buy a few hundred acres out in the middle of nowhere. Someplace with a good growing season, good soil, a professional-quality kitchen, and a fully-equipped automotive shop where I could finish restoring my ’53 Chevy. And I want to build a car from scratch – custom frame, body, everything. Actually, probably a couple of cars: one with some brute-force power and a big nasty engine, and one with a hyper-efficient fuel system, all-wheel drive through electric hubs, and some other cool stuff. And, and…

7) I’m a cat person, but my old farts died at the ripe old ages of 17 and 18 and I just couldn’t bear to start over. I’m petless now (unless you count my husband), and I’ll probably remain that way.

8) Funny.

9) Yes. I’m an outdoor-type person. I don’t necessarily believe the forecast, but I like to know what their best guess is.

P.S. Apparently the numeral 8 followed by a bracket creates a little emoticon wearing sunglasses when the reply is posted. Who knew? Lucky I chose “funny” for than answer. 8)

Nigel Blackwell
on April 19, 2012 at 7:28 pm

Ha, I found the same, hence why the list has 8 ), not 8). Bugger, isn’t it?

Nigel Blackwell
on April 19, 2012 at 7:27 pm

Hi Sherry

It took me a while to read over your responses. I glazed over for a few minutes at the auto shop and building cars … If you should have any money left over from your win I’m sure I could find a little space for a shop, too … you know, if you’re feeling generous with all those millions.

And I’m glad to see you’re up to doing your own stunts. It’s always good to have a bit of courage if you’re going to bolt something fast together and then sit in it!

Hey Nigel! The warmup questions must have paid off, as you nailed the tougher ones. Gorgeous thoughts about your daughter’s birth, regarding bargain hunting, and part-creepy, part-cool about your security axe. (It that the purpose? Will we ever find out???)

I’m not a fan of shopping either, which is why I do most of it online. I’m with you on your dream concert, too. Perhaps we should concert go while other shop FOR us.

Thanks for playing along and so well!

Nigel Blackwell
on April 19, 2012 at 10:07 pm

Hi August

Thanks for tagging me in the first place. Actually I keep the axe to discourage the less-than-polite commenters. Seems to have worked so far!

Thanks for stopping by 🙂

Cheers

Jay Holmes
on April 20, 2012 at 1:09 am

That August is a trouble maker if ever I saw one. Underneath that serious “A student” look of hers lurks the mind of a dangerous woman.

I can’t answer for Piper. but here goes…

1) I do both types of vacations. If I get a few relaxing days of SCUBA with my younger tougher military friends I am then in the mood for few days of Museums and historical sites.

2) I will cheet on this one. I cheeted on most everything in 5th grade and kept myself bussy with things that I found to be more intellectually stimulating then the tedious crap that the nuns were droaning on about.

3) Juggle? Nothing. I’m just no fun on circus night.

4) Australia. I have not been there. I wan’t to talk to some Abo folks in their neck of the woods with no outsiders other than myself around. At this point in my life my list of countries that I prefer to never visit again is far longer than my list of countries that I have yet to visit but would like to.

5) heroes: I had several in my family that were heroes only to me and I didn’t care that nobody else saw them that way so I got to talk to heroes every week if not every day.

Outside of my family I got to meet Mickey Mantle and several of his cohorts several times but only for short visits. He was the poor coal miners son that he claimed to be. He smiled a lot even though he spent most of his life in physical pain ranging from bad to unbearable. That he could smile and chat with kids when I knew he was in pain impressed me. To kids in my neighborhood he was a Hero not because he was a celebrity but because he refused to ever become one. He was one of “us”.

6) The lottery question is easy. I have a big faamily and a lot of friends. I’d allow myself the one extravagance of buying my wife a Jaguar and dole out the rest because I am lucky enough to know many deserving people. When it omes to friends life has been very kind to me.

7) No pet. I have me to take care of so my family and I have all the troublesome bad behaving mamals they need without visiting a p[et shop. My son has two Welsh Corgis but he keeps them at my dad’s house. He is there as much as he is here.

8) Not scarry. Anything but. Vampirwe and Zombie movies are difficult to be near at all. Listen people, garlic and wooden stakes are cheep. Just whack that obnoxious vampire jerk and get on with life.

9) The wether forecast only matters to me when I am traveling. Thank God (and Al Gore) for the Internet.

10) My wife, sons, and I went to my neice’s wedding . We had a gret time.

11)The stunts where I punch, kick, stab, or shoot the other guy I will do. The stunts where I fall three stories or charge through the flames I will leave to the pros. But honestly, I can’t see hollywood asking me to do anything other than leave the premisis.

Nigel Blackwell
on April 21, 2012 at 3:21 pm

Boy Holmes, lots of info – don’t blow your cover here.

I have to say I like the atmosphere os Twilight for the first ten minutes, but the remainder of the two hours was agony. I can’t take vampires and zombies seriously, even less so when they sparkle in the sunlight.

Mickey Mantle sounds like a good guy. It must have been tough to keep to your origins with all the media pressure in pro sports.